22 — Bullshit

"This is bullshit!"
"Language, boy." King Eric cautioned his son. "You better not speak this way when we arrive at the Werewolf kingdom." He growled.
The prince crossed his arms watching absent-mindedly as the guards arranged their baggage and the gifts behind the carriage. His father had gotten some of the finest and exquisite wines the kingdom had and some shining silver and gold wares made by the royal goldsmith to give to the other kingdom. His father was really serious about the peace treaty but he didn't have to make him the sacrifice
It was impossible to have a blissful marriage with someone he had never met and interacted with. Arranged marriages never worked and this was something he had tried to explain to his father but the old vampire was obdurate, insisting he was going to get married to the vampire princess. No matter how he simply put it, his father always dismissed it. His mind was made up.
Prince Nicholas agreed with the treaty. It was a good way to get allied with them. The Werewolf kingdom was one of the strongest supernatural kingdoms and getting allied to them was sure going to attract some advantages. The Werewolf kingdom made some of the best weapons having other kingdoms like the bear shifters and Elfs getting from them. All Nicholas wanted his father to understand was that arranged marriage wasn't the way to go about it.
Growing up, he had seen his father Loving his mother. King Eric was the type who made breakfast in bed for his partner. Sometimes, he wouldn't make decisions without his wife's permission. The prince loved the relationship his parents had, hoping one day he would get to love someone just like that but his father was ruining his plans forcing him into an arranged marriage with someone he had no idea of.
Prince Nicholas tried to imagine what she looked like. Was she tall? Short? Ugly? Did she have a gap in her front teeth? He didn't even know his soon to be wife's name. He scoffed. It was moments like this he wished his mother was alive. She would definitely have spoken some sense to his father.
It was hard not to remember the way she passed away. It all happened before him. His heart wrenched remembering as his mother pulled him by the wrist trying to escape when the horn went off. The werewolves were in the kingdom and his father was getting ready with the soldiers for the war. The queen was the only one who could protect him, pulling her young child and running for safety. The prince could still remember the scared look etched on her face.
While they scrambled for safety out of the palace, an arrow flying was fired directly at him. He gave a loud shout causing his mother to notice. In a bid to save her son, she pushed him, making the arrow pierced through her soul. Tears welled in his eyes as the memory of her falling on her knees and blood dripping out of her mouth. Without sparing a glance at his mother, he rushed out of the scene tears flowing freely down his cheeks. The only safe place to go was he and Gaston's underground tunnel and so he stayed there with Gaston till the war ended.
The prince joined his father in the carriage. It was awkward having to be alone with his father. They were hardly ever together for this long. Gaston and the other guards were on the horses.
"Oh son, you should work on that face. You should put up a nice smile to meet your in-laws."
The prince rolled his eyes. He gave a very wide but fake grin and turned to look out the carriage.
"Nicholas," king Eric called, placing a hand on his son's knee, "this treaty is to bring peace to the supernatural realm. Our world has been in a lot of chaos for centuries. It will bring joy to the world to know that someone wants to bring peace."
There was something about the way his father spoke that calmed his heart. It had to be because it was one of the few times his father had spoken to him without yelling or bullying him. Still, the young prince didn't want to be given out to marriage to an outsider. His wish was to marry someone from the vampire kingdom but it wasn't happening anytime soon. He didn't have his eyes on anyone and couldn't now that he was close to getting married. Was there ever a day his life went well? He heaved a sigh.
The guards by the gates of the kingdom bowed their heads greeting bthd royals as they strolled out of the kingdom. He turned back to look at the tall gate of the Vampire Kingdom. They weren't even out yet and he was already feeling nostalgic. Most of his life, he stayed here. The prince was hardly ever away from the palace. King Eric did the traveling. He was always on the road or in the air while he grew busy with intense training. Even now, the king preferred to deal with international affairs despite his age while his son attended affairs within the kingdom.
After his mother's death, he had watched his father become obsessed with his job. King Eric's only distraction was running the affairs of the kingdom while he was busy training hard to impress his father.
Prince Nicholas frown deepened when he noticed the bush shuffling. He tried to get a good look at it but their carriage was moving fast.
He turned to his father. "What's her name?"
"I think it's Leni or Lola." He waved a hand, "you'll get to find out soon."
I scoffed. "You don't even know her name."
"Nicholas, yo-" King Eric stopped when the carriage stopped abruptly. The king had fallen off the seat while Prince's head made a hard slap to the wall of the carriage. When the carriage had settled, the prince tried to help his father up.
"What was that?" The King asked while he took his seat. He adjusted the crown on his head while he tried to get a glimpse at the front.
"Gaston!" The prince didn't get a response. He arched an eyebrow, confused that the carriage wasn't moving. "Gaston?!" He called louder this time.
"You..your." Gaston stuttered. "Majesty..ma..jesty."
With a frown etched on his features, the king asked, "what is going on?" He turned to Nicholas looking like he was expecting a reply from his son.
The carriage shook vehemently when something dropped on the roof of their compartment. The father and son had their head shot up and hands holding on to parts of the carriage to prevent them from falling over again.
"Gaston!" This was the loudest prince Nicholas had brought out in a long while. Getting no response from his guard, prince Nicholas got out of the carriage. He looked up at the roof and saw nothing, his brows calmed together forming a crease in his forehead. He walked to the front of the carriage to find the space Gaston and the other guard vacant. His frown deepened while he bit his lower lip.
Parading to the front of the carriage, he mentioned, "Gaston." His ears picked on a muffled sound and it only took one step for him to find Gaston and the other guard tied together and a piece of cloth forced into their mouths.
Adrenaline pumping, his eyes traveled around and took calculated steps backwards but his back hit something hard and he felt a flat, sharp metal close to his throat."
Hello,your majesty."
He froze.
"Slowly,very slowly, turn around."
Prince Nicholas Nicholas took tentative steps towards the carriage. The knife was still close to his throat and he knew one wrong move could cost him his life. He peeked into the carriage, his father wasn't there. The prince was led to the end of the carriage, he let out a breath of relief when he made eye contact with his dad.
The King was with a masked man, his gold crown on the head of the built man and an arrow close to his temple. The father and son were forced to sit and were tied together.
"I told you we shouldn't travel over there." This came from prince Nicholas.
The bandits opened up the back of the carriage,a selfish grin spread across their faces when they saw the bags packed in. Their hungry hands preyed on the bags and started to open up them up. Their face lit up like they hit jackpot when the sighted the bag's content. They started to dig out the bag, picking the wares they wanted.
Prince Nicholas struggled to get free from the rope. The king groaned as his son twisted his wrist trying to loosen the grip of the rope. Nicholas finally succumbed to the tightness on wrist.
"We're in our graves." The prince gave up trying.
The bandits took all that they had except some of the wines. When they were done with their selfish work, they fled off leaving them tied down.
"Help!!" The prince heard his personal guard yell. "We need help!"
They all continued to call for help but no one came to their rescue. "We're doomed." King Nicholas announced.
They knew it was impossible for them to get help during the night. The plan was for them to journey through the night and arrive at the werewolf kingdom in the morning. This plan was easier to avoid the harsh weather conditions which weren't good for the vampire's skin.
Soon, they heard the neigh of a horse nearing. Their hopes of making it alive got raised again. They all started to yell for help trying to attract the attention of whoever it was that was around.
A traveler came around seeing the men all tied up on the ground. She was dressed in black and hand long nails and very black hair that touched her ankles. She got off her horse and made her way to the men.
"Help us!" Prince Nicholas said almost immediately. "We were attacked by bandits. They've taken all that we have."
She took out a stick and casted a spell, releasing them. King Eric let out a sigh of relief and groaned when his wrist was set free. He tried to flex and move them around trying to stretch them. Hurriedly, Nicholas made his way to the guard in front of their carriage and started to loosen them up.
"Thank you, Prince Nicholas." Gaston said when he jolted from the floor.
"How did we get attacked?" King Eric joined them, a frown plastered on his face. "You both, " he pointed at the guards, "are so inept." He hissed.
"They jumped on the carriage and attacked from behind. " The second guard answered, looking at the prince. There was no use trying to explain to the king. He was stubborn and only believed whatever he wanted to.
The bandits had attacked from behind, holding tightly their neck. For those brief minutes Gaston was restricted of air, he thought his time had come and was going to lose his life. There was no sign of bandits along the road and it was at night, most of the supernaturals were always busy in tier kingdom with rituals and rites they had to do. The bandits had taken advantage of that.
Prince Nicholas remembered the nice old witch that helped them but when he got to the back of the carriage to thank her, she was absent. There was no sign of her and her horse. They searched for her for a little while before proceeding on their journey.
The prince had given up all hopes on being rescued. The anger the prince felt towards his father increased. He was sure he didn't want to get married to the werewolf princess and she was going to be bad luck. Even the supernatural realm was told by them by bringing bandits their way.
Finally, at dawn, they stopped at a big gate made of thich wood. There were hefty, furry soldiers guarding the gates.
"We have arrived. " King Eric told his son, sitting up from his slouching position. "Welcome to the Werewolf kingdom,son."